As Asteroid Approaches, Here's How To Watch It

This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was obtained on Nov. 7 when the space rock was at 3.6 lunar distances, which is about 860,000 miles from Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
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NASA/JPL-Caltech

This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was obtained on Nov. 7 when the space rock was at 3.6 lunar distances, which is about 860,000 miles from Earth.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

As we reported at the end of October, 2005 YU55, an asteroid bigger than an aircraft carrier, is set to have a very close rendezvous with planet Earth. It'll be closer than the moon and today at 6:28 p.m. ET, it will make its closest approach.

Don't worry. NASA is confident it will miss us. Here's a video NASA put together that explains the trajectory and shows an animation:

Of course, the big question, here, is how can one see the asteroid. If you don't have a telescope, you're out of luck.

Wired reports while the asteroid is of moderate size, it will still be 201,700 miles away, so you need at least a six-inch telescope.

If you have a telescope, Sky and Telescope reports the track is favorable for viewing here in the United States. It will be moving very fast, says Sky and Telescope, you have to know exactly where to look. They explain:

The object will traverse the 70° of sky eastward from Aquila to central Pegasus in just 10 hours, clipping along at 7 arcseconds per second. Use the chart here to get a sense of what part of the sky it's in, then download our detailed finder chart for use between 9 and 10 p.m. November 8th Eastern Standard Time (2:00 and 3:00 November 9th Universal Time).